WWE References AEW During SmackDown Promo
New Japan, Ring Of Honor and AEW got a sly mention during WWE SmackDown.
WWE used AEW, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring Of Honor to help sell the stakes between AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes come Clash At The Castle on Friday's episode of SmackDown. Meanwhile, an impassioned Glasgow, Scotland crowd contributed by 'ooh-ing' and 'aah-ing' along with those references to rival promotions.
AJ played mind games with Cody during a fun face-to-face promo bit on the blue brand's latest international jaunt. At one point, Styles even mentioned that Rhodes "quit" WWE in 2016, then went on to "quit" on New Japan and ROH. Interestingly, AJ didn't mention AEW by name. Instead, he said that Cody started his own promotion then quit that too.
The loudest words went unspoken, basically.
Fans understood the assignment, and responded in kind as Rhodes delivered some suitably cheesed off facial expressions on the big screens. Now, the pair will peak with an "I Quit" match in the same venue at Clash. It's bound to be an in-ring scorcher.
This isn't the first AEW reference on WWE TV by any means, but it is one of the biggest to date.